Unveiling the Ultimate Champion: Brand of the Year Shortlist at the Coveted Marketing Week Awards 2023

Boots, Cadbury, Guinness, Sage, and Yorkshire Tea have made it to the final round of the Our Website Awards for the prestigious Brand of the Year accolade in 2023.

This select group of five brands emerged as top contenders after a thorough evaluation conducted by the Our Website editorial team. Their exceptional performance, adaptability, innovative marketing techniques, and strategic prowess throughout the past year were the key factors considered for their inclusion.

The winner will be selected based on a combination of a public vote and the evaluations of our judging panel consisting of senior marketing leaders. This year's panel includes Margaret Jobling, who is the group CMO at NatWest Group, Irina Rodina, the CMO for Northern Europe at Kraft Heinz, Anthony Newman, the brand and marketing director at Macmilan Cancer Support, and Jane Stiller, the CMO at ITV.

Russell Parsons, the editor-in-chief of Our Website and the Festival of Marketing, states, "Our Website relies on brands. We showcase their failures and successes equally. Brand of the Year signifies excellence, and our list of nominees exemplify that. Congratulations to all the nominees, and I eagerly anticipate announcing the winner in November."

The winner will be revealed at a ceremony at The Londoner in Central London on 1 November.

Click here to vote for your Brand of the Year

Boots

Cadbury Dairy Milk

Boots, a brand that continues to excel, has made significant strides in fortifying its business and generating a reappraisal. The retailer commenced the year by making its "largest ever" investment in price, a strategic move to alleviate the financial strain felt by consumers. This endeavor entailed extending the Boots Everyday essentials selection, resulting in an impressive 35% sales growth for these products within the initial quarter.

Simultaneously, Boots revamped its Advantage Card loyalty program, introducing exclusive discounts for members to provide immediate value during this critical period. Advantage Card holders now receive a 10% discount on 6,000 own-brand items. Although the number of points that members can earn per £1 has been reduced from four to three, this adjustment still positions Boots as one of the most generous loyalty schemes in high street retail, as confirmed by a Which? study.

Boots initiated a major campaign in May to promote its value proposition, an unusual approach for the retailer during this time of year. However, thanks to the efforts of CMO Pete Markey and his team to demonstrate the effectiveness of marketing over the past few years, they were successful in securing additional investment. "This year, we are implementing various new strategies that we have not done before, as we have been able to demonstrate the positive impact of marketing," Markey stated.

As a result of their work in proving the effectiveness of marketing, the team has consistently obtained larger budgets. Boots introduced its largest healthcare campaign ever at the beginning of 2023 and, in the previous year, launched the first-ever TV campaign for Advantage Card in its 25-year history. Markey revealed that this initiative yielded an impressive return on investment of £2 for every £1 spent and led to an additional 1.1 million members enrolling.

Boots's 'Joy for All' Christmas campaign in 2022 was highly successful, earning an outstanding 5.2-star rating from effectiveness measurement firm System1. This campaign followed the triumph of their previous Christmas campaign, 'Bags of Joy', which delivered an impressive return on investment (ROI) of £4 for every £1 spent. Additionally, 45% of customers who shopped with Boots during this period had not done so the previous year.

During the Christmas season in 2022, online sales played a significant role, resulting in Boots.com becoming one of the top 10 most-visited retail sites in the UK on Black Friday. The website contributed to 18% of total sales in the quarter ending on November 30th, compared to only 9% before the pandemic.

Boots has been elevating its presence through various significant sponsorships. It recently entered into a multi-year agreement with Heart Breakfast and extended its sponsorship of ITV's Love Island for the third consecutive year. This decision was driven by the impressive 50% average sales increase observed for the showcased products in 2022.

Additionally, Boots has experienced a robust start to 2023. The retailer witnessed a notable 13.4% rise in retail sales during the third quarter, marking its ninth consecutive quarter of market share growth.

All indication that Markey’s mission to drive reappraisal of the Boots brand is paying off.

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Guinness

Source: Shutterstock

The Cadbury brand has not been in such a strong position since its advertising peak in the 2000s. It is currently receiving praise for its innovation, strong purpose, and dedication to building the brand for the long term. The 'There's a Glass and a Half in Everyone' platform, which was initially introduced in 2018, is continuously gaining momentum.

The brand's campaign has revitalized it and is credited with boosting its annual revenue by £261m. Since the campaign's launch, annual sales have increased by 22%, more than double the original target of 9%. This surge was much-needed as the brand had experienced consistent declines leading up to 2018. A submission for the IPA Effectiveness Award from last year revealed that 2 million British households had stopped purchasing Cadbury Dairy Milk in the two years prior to the brand's change in direction.

By emphasizing the brand's purpose of generosity, which is aligned with its Quaker heritage, Cadbury has successfully connected with consumers and regained momentum.

Mondelez senior marketing director, Dave Clements, emphasized the extensive impact of the Glass and a Half platform in May. He stated that it goes beyond being simply a campaign and actually encompasses everything the company does.

Kantar's analysis revealed that Cadbury's 2022 Christmas campaign, 'Secret Santa', is expected to have long-term effectiveness as an advertising campaign. The brand's Secret Santa postal service has been a consistent part of Cadbury's creative calendar for five consecutive years, while also being a regular presence in consumers' advent calendars.

Despite the implementation of high fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) restrictions in the UK, Mondelez, the parent company, has not experienced a substantial decline in sales. Interestingly, Mondelez had a remarkable year in 2022, with net revenues surging by 9.7% to $31.5 billion (£25.6 billion) and gross profit increasing by $58 million (£47.1 million) to reach $11.3 billion (£9.2 billion). Furthermore, the company's growth is evident, as evidenced by a 17.5% increase in half-year revenues.

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Sage

Source: Diageo

This year, Guinness's success has been clearly evident to everyone. In fact, Diageo, the company that owns Guinness, declared the brand's 2023 fiscal year, which concluded in June, as its "best year" ever recorded. The brand achieved higher sales than ever before.

The brand, established in the 18th century, has consistently demonstrated its ability to preserve its unique identity and historical significance, while remaining appealing to modern consumers. In a noteworthy achievement, the Irish beer has emerged as the top choice among consumers in the UK, based on its value sales in the on-trade sector.

In February of this year, Mark Ritson, a columnist for Our Website, highlighted Guinness's remarkable success and praised their exceptional execution of fundamental marketing strategies. He emphasized their effective use of key brand assets, active social listening, and their ability to continuously learn from previous years to achieve marketing excellence.

Despite being closely associated with pint glasses and pubs, Guinness has demonstrated its appeal to consumers as an at-home beverage in its domestic market. This is remarkable considering its premium positioning and the challenges that consumers face in terms of living costs. In fact, over the past 12 months, Guinness has become the top-selling beer by volume in the off-trade sector on the island of Ireland.

Diageo has reported strong growth for the brand across all regions in its recent fiscal year. Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia Pacific saw double-digit growth, contributing to an impressive overall growth rate of 16% over the 12 months ending in June.

In addition to leveraging its distinctive brand assets, Guinness has embraced strategic innovation in recent years. One notable example is the launch of Guinness Nitrosurge, which allows consumers to enjoy a draft pint experience in the comfort of their homes. The brand has also successfully tapped into the growing no and low alcohol sector with Guinness 0.0, expanding its product offering. Diageo confirms that the four-pack of Guinness 0.0 was the top-selling non-alcoholic item in terms of both value and volume in the British off-trade market.

Diageo plans to further expand the market presence of Guinness by focusing on innovation and maintaining a steady investment in marketing. Neil Shah, the head of Guinness GB, expressed earlier this year that their approach entails enhancing the existing strategy rather than completely negating it.

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Yorkshire Tea

Source: Sage / Finsbury Glover Hering

Amidst a year characterized by heightened pressure on brands to deliver immediate outcomes, Sage emerges as an exemplar of steadfast commitment to nurturing enduring brand value and the substantial benefits it can deliver to enterprises – a notable anomaly in the realm of B2B enterprises.

Sage allocated an additional £50m towards marketing in 2022, coinciding with the rebranding and introduction of their first-ever purpose statement: "To break down barriers so that everyone can thrive." This investment has proven fruitful as the company achieved double-digit growth, with total revenue reaching £1.87bn in the recent six-month financial results ending on March 31, representing a 10% YoY increase.

During the same period, marketing expenditure continued to rise, reaching £411m compared to the previous year's £395m. CEO Steve Hare has emphasized the advantages of combining efficient and digital marketing strategies with long-term "global integrated campaigns," an approach that the company is increasingly adopting on a global scale.

The business has clearly made significant investments and is now seeing positive outcomes. In fact, Sage was the second largest spender on linear TV among B2B brands in 2022, increasing its investment in the channel by 39% to £13.4m, according to Thinkbox.

Above all, Sage is a brand that prioritizes the human element in business. CMO Cath Keers emphasized this aspect when discussing the brand's refresh last year: "For me, it's all about human to human interactions. People prefer to buy from other people."

Since the refresh and the following TV, outdoor, and digital campaign, Sage has unquestionably remained at the forefront, serving as an exceptional representation of a top-tier marketing organization. This monumental achievement not only serves as a source of inspiration for other B2B brands but for all businesses alike.

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The black tea industry has faced significant obstacles in recent years, including rising costs of raw materials and heightened competition from private label brands. These challenges have been particularly pronounced.

It is impressive how Yorkshire Tea has not only maintained its leading position in the category, which it fought hard to achieve, but has also managed to do so while keeping its premium price.

Despite a decrease in operating profit in the previous financial year at its parent company Bettys and Taylors Group, Yorkshire Tea saw a continued increase in sales. Additionally, its share of the black tea market also grew, reaching an impressive 34%.

Its success has been a result of a tough battle. In 2017, it ranked as the third largest brand in the black tea market in terms of volume, capturing only 21.7% of the market.

The turning point came with the launch of the transformative brand platform, 'Where Everything Is Done Proper'.

Developed in collaboration with Lucky Generals, the purpose of this platform is to present the brand as an epitome of excellence. An essential goal was to increase brand awareness, which was achieved by the inclusion of prominent Yorkshire-born celebrities like Sir Patrick Stewart, thereby aiming to reconnect consumers with the brand or introduce it to new audiences.

Additionally, the platform was strategically crafted to assist the brand in maintaining its price point. Yorkshire Tea, being more expensive than its competitors and own-brand alternatives, emphasizes its status as a "proper" brew to communicate the brand's value, particularly during a time of economic strain when consumers are actively seeking more affordable options.

In a recent interview with Our Website, marketing director Dom Dwight shared that the main goal, during challenging times, is to emphasize the value of investing a little more in high-quality tea. Dwight explained, "It doesn't have to be complicated. It can be as simple as asking, how terrible is a bad cup of tea?"

Evidence suggests that this approach is effective. According to data from Kantar Worldpanel, Yorkshire Tea has a higher price compared to other tea brands in the UK. While the average price is set at 100, the average retail pricing index for standard black tea reveals that Yorkshire Tea's index is 144, indicating that it commands a significantly higher price than competitors such as PG Tips (97) and Tetley (76). Despite the pressure to heavily promote the brand, this serves as a testament to the strong brand and price equity that Yorkshire Tea enjoys.

The brand has also focused on expanding the overall category. In order to do this, they have specifically aimed to appeal to younger consumers and diversified their media approach. One particular advertisement that gained recognition was their lighthearted 'social distancing teapot' ad in 2020. Additionally, a recent music video featuring the tale of 'Skipton Alfie', who takes a suitcase of Yorkshire Tea with him on a holiday to Ibiza, has gained popularity on the internet.

Cast your vote for your favorite Brand of the Year by clicking here.